NY NY - Colin Gillis, 18, Tupper Lake, 11 March 2012

[cluciano63]

This is another case similar in some ways to that of Bryce Laspisa...and going on two years.

 

[Kadence]

Bumpin' for Colin - he has limited time as a Spotlight Case so I want to make sure he gets as much exposure as possible. Please take a look. Thank you everyone.

 

[Nugget]

*bump*

 

[rosesfromangels]

Okay another bump.
Go search the area again with dogs before winter sets in.

 

[Kadence]

Thank you so much Nugget and rosesfromangels! You're the best! roses - I hope someone is listening to you!

So, no post on Colin's Missing FB page since June 2012? I wonder why

https://www.facebook.com/colingillissearchupdates

Also of interest, could there have been these types of drugs at the party? If so, what drugs are we talking about?:

"In the months since Colin’s disappearance, others have gone missing for a time in the Adirondacks, with extensive searches launched for them.

Near the end of March, Angela Roberts and Carl R. Burns, both of Tupper Lake, were the subjects of an intensive hunt. They were found within two days, and police believed they had fled into the woods after taking paranoia-inducing drugs."

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100...-Gillis-investigation-remains-active-unsolved

 

[Hap]

Still thinking of you, Colin.

 

[Nugget]

Kadence - looks like the FB page isn't ran by family. Maybe even a stranger trying to help in the moment.

"Our goal is to keep the momentum moving for the Gillis family and to create a space that will allow the public to stay updated on any new information. "

Must've lost interest once info stopped coming in. Sad.

 

[Nugget]

If it's true that he was:
1) possibly trying to hitchhike (per Rich's witness account)

And

2) "Some personal items belonging to Mr. Gillis were located on the Setting Pole Dam Road"

Then I think he met foul play. So...

My possible theories:
1) someone from the party picked him up and things went bad (Recent case in IL of Emmanuel Doninguez comes to mind. Out partying and ends up murdered in a burnt car in IN.) Possibly a set-up.

2) a stranger picked him up. Maybe a truck driver or maybe an unsavory character. At that time of night there can be some creeps out. Maybe they wouldn't take him where he asked and a struggle ensued.

3) maybe he was picked up and dropped off somewhere he asked. Maybe near a hotel or gas station or in a parking lot at a walmart or something open 24 hours. And then he met foul play then. Maybe someone lured him, posing as someone he could trust or bum a cigarette from or take a jacket or warm up in their car while he figured out what to do (go home and potentially have to explain fight to family because they'll know he's upset? Go back to the party? Stay gone all night?)

4) perhaps he is being held captive somewhere. I'm not sure if that statistically happens to males as much? Any cases we can compare to?

5) perhaps a hit and run and the perp took the body to hide it. But was there blood at all? Tire marks?

BUT.......
http://rochester.ynn.com/content/al...es-for-missing-suny-brockport-student/#replay

Per this article no evidence that he was hit by car.

 

[Nugget]

If NOT foul play:

1) accident (maybe dropped the found items in the dark and was too cold to stop and pick them up - just wanted to keep going. Maybe too dark too see where they fell. Then he stumbled into the steep wooded area. Maybe looking for a short cut or maybe pure accident. Or maybe he thought the forest would protect him against any wind or being seen by the people from the party or even from cops or general passerbys.)

My problem with this: I feel like his body could've been found in an "extensive search" if he was teetering on the edge of the woods and fell. Maybe I'm wrong - locals: is it possible he could've barely staggered in and *poof* gone?

Please note this article states there's no evidence he attempted to go across the ice
http://rochester.ynn.com/content/al...es-for-missing-suny-brockport-student/#replay

2) suicide

My problem with this: no info given on his general mental state. I would hope he wouldn't kill himself over a fight at a party. Unless perhaps drugs and alcohol were a factor and he thought irrationally. But if spur of the moment, I don't think his body would be gone for good.

3) willingly disappeared and doesn't want to be found

My problem with this: what reason? Why do it this way if he did it at all? Seems too random to me. If he wanted to be gone it would make more sense to follow a plan. This doesn't feel like a PLAN to me.

 

[Nugget]

Rich's report said that Collin's arms were flailing.

What I think:
1) possibly hitchhiking

2) keeping warm

This article stated he was only wearing long sleeves and the temp was in the teens. http://adirondackdailyenterprise.co...arch-forms-for-Tupper-Lake-teen.html?nav=5008

3) maybe on drugs or drunk and acting out. Maybe mad while walking and reliving something that upset him to himself. I find myself gesturing sometimes when I'm thinking.

4) were both arms flailing? Maybe he was on the phone with the other hand and he is a "hand talker" so he was using one arm to gesture



Sooo
1) do we know anything about last call?
2) did they ping his phone?

ETA: in an article that was originally posted but no longer working, the quote states that:
"He was last heard from at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 11, based on phone records."

From his phone records? Or the person he called last?

 

[Nugget]

http://www.wcax.com/story/17156616/community-holds-candlelight-vigil-for-missing-ny-teen

This states he did leave a party where underage drinking was happening.

When I was a teenager that usually meant at least one person had weed. Also meant there could've been salvia or coke or shrooms, depending on the crowd.


Regardless ---- unless we have proof or statements that say so, it doesn't mean he drank or did any drugs (if any were even present). I never did drugs but I was around them. Some nights I was too tired to drink and didn't. Or just had one. I don't think we know?

 

[Nugget]

He was walking along the Adirondack Forest Preserve

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5263.html

Any locals able to tell us more? Looks beautiful. But probably dangerous in the winter.

Any accidents or accidental deaths on the outskirts of that forest that we can find? Anything to give us an idea of what happens when you start wandering in?

 

[Nugget]

Also, where is his cell phone, and did it work in that part of the Adirondacks?
Where is Colin?

ETA: Also, was it cloudy or clear in the area that evening, because it was a full moon that night and if it was clear...the light of the moon should have helped him find his way. IMO

Respectfully snipped.

Good points.

1) did his cell phone work here? If not, and calls or texts or data weren't coming in, that likely means no way to ping for location if the phone stayed in a dead zone location.... Right?

2) is there a way to look up last weather? I've needed this in another case too. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nugget]

I'm going to chime in on this thread. Over the years, I have found that lost individuals in cold climates tend to do two things. First is behavior found in some individuals with Hypothermia...they begin to shed clothing (shoe?). Second is that in an attempt to find someplace warm, they will burrow in under a pine tree or thicket to find relief from cold, wind and snow. If they expire, it makes them very hard to find. You are not looking for a person laying on the ground next to the trail...you are looking for a "lump" in the ground litter or using a flashlight to look into thickets, under pines and in any hole or cave. Many untrained or inexperienced searchers tend to miss this.

Really good points. This can fit into my accident theory. Trying to stay warm or protected from wind, etc and he burrowed himself away. Hmmmm... Can't imagine he would linger too far in, but if he were delirious than who knows.

 

[rosesfromangels]

If it's true that he was:
1) possibly trying to hitchhike (per Rich's witness account)

And

2) "Some personal items belonging to Mr. Gillis were located on the Setting Pole Dam Road"

Then I think he met foul play. So...

My possible theories:
1) someone from the party picked him up and things went bad (Recent case in IL of Emmanuel Doninguez comes to mind. Out partying and ends up murdered in a burnt car in IN.) Possibly a set-up.

2) a stranger picked him up. Maybe a truck driver or maybe an unsavory character. At that time of night there can be some creeps out. Maybe they wouldn't take him where he asked and a struggle ensued.

3) maybe he was picked up and dropped off somewhere he asked. Maybe near a hotel or gas station or in a parking lot at a walmart or something open 24 hours. And then he met foul play then. Maybe someone lured him, posing as someone he could trust or bum a cigarette from or take a jacket or warm up in their car while he figured out what to do (go home and potentially have to explain fight to family because they'll know he's upset? Go back to the party? Stay gone all night?)

4) perhaps he is being held captive somewhere. I'm not sure if that statistically happens to males as much? Any cases we can compare to?

5) perhaps a hit and run and the perp took the body to hide it. But was there blood at all? Tire marks?

BUT.......
http://rochester.ynn.com/content/al...es-for-missing-suny-brockport-student/#replay

Per this article no evidence that he was hit by car.

The personal items, especially a shoe suggest a physical event of some nature. The fact it was left behind suggests panic. My best guess is an accidental hit by a car and subsequent disposal of the body.....close by.

 

[Nugget]

The personal items, especially a shoe suggest a physical event of some nature. The fact it was left behind suggests panic. My best guess is an accidental hit by a car and subsequent disposal of the body.....close by.

I agree but what do you make of the article that police state no evidence of being hit by a car?

 

[rosesfromangels]

I agree but what do you make of the article that police state no evidence of being hit by a car?

I think they should search that area with cadaver dogs regardless. See where the trail goes. For all we know it was an attack by a large animal

 

[Nugget]

I think they should search that area with cadaver dogs regardless. See where the trail goes. For all we know it was an attack by a large animal

I read they had "extensive searches."

http://www.wptz.com/news/30659240/detail.html#ixzz1p2mdhfwh



DEC Finds Articles Belonging to Missing NY Teen



Late Monday afternoon, the DEC issued this update:





"All told approximately 200 people participated in the search for Mr. Gillis today including: DEC Forest Rangers; State Police Troopers, Investigators, Special Operations Response Team members, and helicopter crews; Search and Rescue of Northern Adirondacks (SARNAK) members, Tupper Lake Police and Fire Department members, Piercefield Fire Department members and more than 150 volunteers. Roads, roadways and the railroad bed were all searched.



Some personal items belonging to Mr. Gillis were located on the Setting Pole Dam Road



New York State Police is now the lead agency in this effort.

 

[Nugget]

Anyone have any feedback on my theories?

:bump:

 

[Hejlena]

http://tupperlakepress.com/2012/03/search-for-colin-gillis-draws-hundreds/


http://www.wcax.com/story/17156616/community-holds-candlelight-vigil-for-missing-ny-teen

These boys' story coincides with the information that Colin had phone activity around 1:30 am--who did he call for a ride?? Or someone called him and then agreed to come and get him. Who is this person?

Afaik, no one has come forward to say, "yeah, but when we got to where he said he was, he was gone."